The choice may be made of one or more, as the money permits.

The particular gift will still be a surprise and yet of permanent value.

Lace and embroideries are always good, but let the waste of money on the "latest" in orange-knives, oyster-plates, go up higher, that is, to the class with money for conspicuous waste, if it must still exist, but let sensible people be sensible, and not require the young folks to live up to their hopes for future advancement.

Wedding gifts are meant to be kindly help to a young housewife, not a burden which drags her down to the level of a drudge.

But if the house is surely their own, and in the country, there will be shelves to fill and walls to cover; _then_ is the opportunity for individual gifts of china, glass, and pictures.
To make the best of the increasing tendency to a semi-country living, there is need for students of domestic architecture, women with a trained taste added to an experience in doing things, not merely seeing them already done.